More Fancy Things

Thing 47 ~ Evaluation

2009-06-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Overall, I had fun completing all these fancy things! I love learning, and I'm always excited by Web 2.0 applications! It seemed to go in phases for me though; I'm really glad we had an extra month to complete the things. The end of school is always hectic so the extension was appreciated. One bummer is that not many people commented on anything I had to say. That said, I didn't comment on many others, although I definitely read others. I think it's just a time thing for me. My main goal was to increase my knowledge and that happened so I'm happy with the program! Thanks to everyone who put time into this project. There is so much information, and it was presented in such an easy format! Thanks again!

Thing 46 ~ WebJunction Minnesota

2009-06-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

I signed up for WebJunction earlier this year, but I haven't had much time to really look at the site. I really like all the links for promoting your media center to your teachers. I'll definitely spend some time there this summer as I look at ways of collaborating with teachers more and more. I love the idea of taking some classes too; I think it's great that they're free. I haven't talked to anyone who has taken them, so I'd like some input on what people think of the classes.

I also have used the Research Project Calculator and have it linked from my school website. I'm not sure how often students at my school are using it, but I showcase it during freshman orientation.

Overall, it's a valuable site with great links that I hope to use more in the future.

Thing 45 ~ Cloud Computing

2009-06-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of Google Docs! We use it daily in our school library media center to schedule classroom spaces and computer labs. In the beginning, there were definitely some problems setting up all of the accounts for the teachers, but once we figured out the bugs it's been great. I've had really great feedback from teachers and plan on using it again next year! To those interested in using it, be aware that there is a difference between an individual account and a team edition account. This is what gave us problems when setting things up. If you're aware of this before you begin, it should make things much easier.

Some of the advantages of using Google Docs for our scheduling:

multiple people can view and edit at the same time
revision history makes correcting mistakes a piece of cake
people can edit any time or place
you can upload documents
automatically saves
it's free

Some of the disadvantages:

team edition can be confusing if the user already has a google docs account
the email list feature didn't work properly so we had to copy and paste all the addresses

I also like all of the photography sites that keep a backup of all of your pics. I'd be devastated if I lost all of them and it's great to know they're backed up in several spots!

Thing 44 ~ The Economy

2009-06-06T20:52:00.001-07:00

I really like some of these sites! They're easy to understand and think they'll be very useful to some of our teachers and students. The ones for balancing a budget and gas & cell phone prices are super too. I think some of our teachers who teach life skills would find these really useful for their classes.

Here's another site that our economics teacher recommended to me awhile ago. I think it's really great too!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Thing 43 ~ Online TV & Video

2009-06-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

I checked out both Hulu and Joost and think they're great. While much of the content is pop culture, there are some great videos available. For schools, the documentaries and National Geographic videos are wonderful! I love being able to download or embed them too. Teachers could post them on their webpages making it easy for students who missed class to complete any assignment that accompanied the video.

I really don't think online videos will change my viewing too much. It's a nice option to have, but with the use of DVR, I'm able to view what I want. I still prefer watching videos curled up on my couch with a big screen and surround sound! That's not to say you couldn't hook your computer up to your TV, but I guess I don't watch that much TV. But I feel at school, the options are wonderful and affordable!

This video Super Size Me is from Snag Films another cool video site that features documentaries. There are some fabulous videos available and you can embed and download them too!

Thing 42 ~ Music

2009-06-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

I love all of the music available through the web. My favorites are Pandora and Last.fm. I haven't had problems with either of them, and I think they're super easy to use. I also tried out The Hype Machine and I love all of the different remixes that they have in one spot! I also liked that it gave a list of concerts in the area too, although I also get that service through iGoogle. I don't pay much attention to the blogs on the sites, but I do like that videos are linked for some songs as well. I also tried What's hot in Your Area, but it appears that the link is broken.

I don't really think that Internet radio will replace broadcast until technology in automobiles makes it affordable for the common man. I think of how many broadcast radio stations do so much for their communities and it will be interesting to see where it goes in the future. I'm sure they're already looking at how they will change and adjust their services in the future.

I also liked the 9 sites for music lyrics link. There are several teachers in our building who incorporate song lyrics into their assignments. The links will be great resources for students!

Thing 41 ~ Mash Up Your Life

2009-06-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

I tried out Lifestream for about 2 weeks. While I think it's a great tool, it wasn't all that useful to me. None of my friends have accounts with it, and I already know what I publish to my various Web 2.0 accounts. I could see where this could be very useful if a lot of my friends and coworkers used it. However, I really still prefer iGoogle simply because so many of my Web 2.0 applications are already linked to it. That said, I enjoy learning about new sites and trying them out.

Thing 40 Mashup the Web

2009-05-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Pandora.FM is fabulous! What a fun way to get music that I like! Just a few weeks ago, our school hosted an art show and the student doing the music used Pandora. It worked really well! I also tried Splice, several times, but the link isn't working properly. I'm not sure what happened there.

The photo mashups were fun to play around with too! I just wish I actually had more time to play with them; it's been a busy month. Five more days with kids and 4 more without!

I also really liked TimeTube and will definitely share that with classes. What a great way to obtain videos for school projects and power points! I feel it would really be useful for visual learners and a nice alternative to YouTube.

Crime Reports is an interesting site too. I actually showed it to a teacher who was having her special education students working on a vacation project. One of the requirements was to evaluate the safety of the hotels in the vacation area. The only thing I didn't like about the site was that some areas didn't seem to have any information. I'm wondering who takes the initiative to make sure the information is out there. At any rate, it's very interesting to evaluate.

Finally, I absolutely love Polyvore! I think our fashion merchandising teacher will love this site! I love fashion and think this site is a ton of fun! I created this image in minutes.

Thing 38 ~ Screencasting

2009-05-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

This was a fun one to complete too! I've never created my own screencast, and I thought it was super easy to do. Originally, I tried to use Screencast-O-Matic but it kept making FireFox freeze. So I tried ScreenToaster instead. I thought it was super easy to set up and do. My screencast is how to save a podcast or digital story using GarageBand. This is the program we use at my high school to do all of our podcasting and digital stories.

Thing 39 ~ Digital Storytelling

2009-05-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

I love digital storytelling! In my high school, I do a digital story telling unit with the 10th grade English teachers. We create podcasts with GarageBand based on students' memoirs. It's a lot of work, but it's really fun and the students are generally happy with the final result.

I've used Smilebox in the past, and I really like that. It's easy to use and uploads photos quickly. I think their templates are really cute too.

For this project, I tried out Scrapblog. Below is my example. It was easy to use with the exception of the back/forward feature for photos and text. I think this might be because I used a template and so I wasn't aware of all the previous formatting. At any rate, it was easy and I think the final product is cute. Of course, I'm biased!

Thing 37 ~ Photo Tales

2009-05-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

I love Animoto! This is a video I created for my book club kids. I've also showed this site to a few of our teachers and they love it too. The only complaint I have is that sometimes the video doesn't use all of the pictures even if I try to highlight them. I've found picking a more upbeat song helps with the amount of images that will be displayed. Keep in mind, the free ones are only 30 seconds long!

Thing 36 ~ Generators

2009-05-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

I loved playing around with all the generators; I spent way too much time on this one! :0)

I really like Printable Paper and think teachers would really like the site. Students K-12 could use the site too.

I love ToonDoo, except I cannot obtain the embed code for many of the comics including the one I created. I'm going to check again tomorrow. Maybe it needs more time? Otherwise, I'll do a partial screen shot and put the comics in as pictures. Does anyone know how to solve this problem? I found their "How do I wiki" to be cluttered and not too helpful. It's late though so that may be part of the problem. :0)

On the MLA Research link on our school website, there are a few links for MLA generators. Some teachers really like using them, and others don't like to use them at all. I still haven't found one that is 100% accurate. However, with the new MLA edition, maybe that will change. It will be interesting to see which ones will be ready to go with the new format this fall. I personally like some of the changes; I think citing from databases is easier now.

We also use Wordle at school for a variety of things. It's great to see students using tools featured in the school blog! Big Huge Labs is another favorite! Playing around is too much fun!

Thing 35 ~ Books 2.0

2009-05-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

There are a few tools I already use and really like. I use Library Thing for my personal blog and I love that it changes the books every time someone visits the site. I also like how compact the widget is. I also use Shelfari for this blog and my school media center blog. I really like how the information appears by hovering over the book. However, the same books always appear in the same order. While it's easy to move to the next page, I would like it more if the books were rotated. Maybe this is something I can fix in the settings, but I'm not sure. Also, the gray writing in the pop-up could be a bit darker. Again, maybe I could fix that with the settings. I also like and use What Should I Read Next. It's a great way to suggest titles to students. My only complaint is that I don't usually have the books they recommend in stock. It's a nice way to connect students with the public libraries though. If I don't have the title, I usually can find it through Hennepin County or Great River. Some kids will check out their own, and other times I will get it for them. I would really like to develop my own What Should I Read Next based on the titles in our school media center; it would really be helpful to students.

I also thought many of the children's book sites were really cute. I might show some to my daughter, although I really limit her computer time since she's only five. Some of the sites could be really useful to access with an iPhone when we're waiting for the doctor or other appointment. Elementary media specialists could have fun incorporating them in their lessons too.

In our school, students are using Google Books to find information on a variety of topics. It's been really helpful for some of our topics that we don't have resources on in our media center. I haven't had a ton of requests for eBooks, but I know many of our manga readers check out the manga sites on a daily basis. There are some sites that have entire series online. Still, they prefer the paperbacks, and they're always asking for more copies! I think book 2.0 tools can enhance reading experiences, but it could be frustrating for others if they don't have the right technology to effectively use the tools.

Thing 34 - Answer Sites

2009-05-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

I think many people use Q & A sites because they want information quickly. However, I'm not overly impressed with many of them. Some of the questions were quite serious; for example, I saw many health related questions. But many of the answers weren't really that in depth. That said, I've used various sites to get help with trouble shooting many different issues and I've found them really helpful. I think it depends on who is on the other side answering the questions.
I usually see students after they're frustrated because they can't find what they're looking for.

I love the name SnappyFingers, but I wasn't impressed with the site at all. Perhaps I was asking the wrong questions? Several questions I asked didn't reveal any results. Even when I asked some basic ones, I thought the results were lacking.

One of our AP teachers said her students are using CHACHA and they love it. I've looked at it a bit, but I think many of the answers are too simplistic. I didn't create an account so maybe the information that is sent is of better quality. I think it might be good for quick simple info, but I wouldn't encourage students to use it. I'll have to talk to some students to see what they think. Anyone out there tried it and like it? Just wondering.

Thing 33 Travel 2.0

2009-05-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

Most of these sites seem to be something I'll look at more when I retire and actually have time to travel! By then, I'm sure there will be something even better--I have a long ways to go!
I love to travel, but with two little ones most of the traveling is to see grandparents in the Dakotas. We hope to go to Disney within the next year though.

One site I found through one of the links was Don't Forget Your Toothbrush. It's a really fun site that has pre-made checklists ready and you simply click on things you want. There are a ton of options and it breaks things down by weeks and days before you leave. There were things I wouldn't have thought of that are included. It's super easy to use too.

I also really liked Mapness which uses Google Maps and lets users log where and what they're doing. I think it would be great fun to do if students were taking a road trip. When I was in high school, our choir took a tour of our state and it would have been fun to create a map and journal of our performances and stories from the road. I think other students and parents would have fun following the trip.

Another way I could see schools using these travel 2.0 tools is for planning and getting information about trips abroad with the world language classes. Geography students could use the sites too for assignments where they need to create itineraries for visiting other countries. Even our work experience coordinator could use these sites as his students do a unit where they plan and budget for a vacation too.

Google Maps--Thing 32

2009-04-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun playing around with Google Maps. I made a map of things to do around Elk River with children.

View Fun Places for Toddlers & Preschoolers in a larger map

As a high school media specialist, I'm thinking this could really be fun for some teachers to incorporate in their classes. For geography, students could make maps of the countries they are studying. They could make a virtual field trip of the country or city. World language students could do the same. It would also be fun to plot different events from history or literature. I know Google Lit Trips has a wonderful Grapes of Wrath site. Students could make their own. Student travel groups could map their trips and add pictures, videos & other info. With all of the different sites from 100+ there are a ton of possibilities for a wide variety of classes.

Thing 31- More Twitter

2009-03-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

So, I've been trying to update Twitter more. I'm following a couple of people now, and that definitely adds interest for me; I'm still not hooked though. I think if I followed more people, that would help. I'm just wondering who has time to really put into this. There was actually an article in the Star Tribune about celebrities who are hiring people to tweet for them. For awhile I was following Obama News, but the amount of Tweets was overwhelming. I also added a Tweet widget to my blog which was really easy to set up. I like being able to access other's blogs and tweets through mine. It's easy, convenient and a time-saver.

I'm at the "presence" level; I have an account and I've tweeted a bit. I think my page is beginning to reflect me as a person, but I have a long way to go before I really find this something I'll use daily. To me, Twitter is discussion.

Thing 30 ~ RSS & Delicious

2009-03-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Delicious; I just wish our district didn't block it. However, I still recommend it to teachers because it's so easy to use. I added a linkroll to my blog, and I've added a few people to my network. It's interesting to see things we have in common and also things we don't. I really like getting new useful sites this way. One way I think we could really use it in the library would be to connect teacher's sites and tag individual units of study. It would save tons of time in updating webpages. I did try to use a few of the tools for deleting inactive links, however, I couldn't get them to work right. Fresh Delicious wouldn't accept my password and another one wouldn't let me extract the files. I'll keep trying, but it's late and I really need to go to bed!

As far as RSS feeds, I use them, but I do a ton of scanning. Sometimes I'll get fixated on a topic, but then that passes. I have a few that I regularly follow and the rest come and go. It's a great tool, and I think students could use them for different research projects. When collaborating with other students, sharing the subscription or link would also be really valuable.
For me, Google Reader is super simply because it's so easy to use and it's all accessible from my homepage iGoogle. I like the article included that encourages readers to get over reading everything. If I did that, I truly would never sleep!

Thing 29 Google Tools

2009-03-15T18:15:00.001-07:00

Overall, I really like Google tools; they've made many things in our media center easier this year. We use Google docs everyday at our school to sign up for space in the media center and computer labs. I've gotten some great feedback from staff. However, we definitely have had some bumps in the road. When I first set up the account, I didn't realize there were two ways of accessing the accounts. There is an account set up for our school , a team edition, and there could be accounts set up through Google. At first, it was really frustrating trying to figure out which account had been used. Luckily, there is a way to move your documents from one account to another. Also, sometimes staff never clicked on the invitation link and so they weren't granted permission to edit the site. Fortunately, this occurred with a small minority of the staff. Different people access it differently, but it is working for everyone now. I think I'll stick with it for next year simply because people really like it--when it works correctly! Our office conference rooms were recently added too. It's so much better than binders even if there were some kinks! I really like that multiple people can edit the document at one time; users can see who is editing at the same time as well. It's one of the reasons I picked Google Docs over a wiki.

Also, our special ed. department uses Google calendar to book IEP meetings; it has helped with booking too many IEPs in one day. Emails can be sent as reminders too.

I've just started using Google alerts, and I think students might really like setting them up as they do research projects. Our 9th graders do a current issues unit and this might really work well for them in addition to Google News. I like how Google News has a most popular tab as well as top news stories in other countries. I will still show students ProQuest and other databases, but I think it's a great tool to show them as well.

Thing 28

2009-03-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've used iGoogle for sometime, and I will stick with that one. I think the others are great, but I really like all of the applications that come with Google. I do think sometimes it can take a while for my homepage to load, but often I don't spend tons of time there. Between RSS feeds, emails, blogs, and now Twitter, I feel like I have plenty of information. One gadget I really like is the To Do list. It keeps everything in one place. The only downside--it is a never ending list. I'm the type who will add things I've done to my list, just to be able to cross them off and feel as if I've accomplished a ton as I toss it. Not quite the same online!

With all of the options available, there truly is something for everyone! It's interesting to evaluate why people prefer what they do.

I think iGoogle is extremely easy to use and I love many of the tools, but I'll talk about those in the next blog!

Thing 27 Twitter

2009-03-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Originally, I set up a Twitter account at TIES in December. It was a session on using Twitter in the Language Arts classroom. I really haven't done anything with it until now. I'm fancythings on Twitter, and I've updated my account. I'm wondering if I'll really keep up with this one. I love the idea of being concise, but I tend to ramble! I think I might find it more interesting once I'm following more people.

As far as using it in a library, I love the quick messages. We always have our staff meetings in the media center and sometimes they're last minute. It would be great to send out a message to students to let them know we're closed for the meeting. I also really like the idea of having students recommend books through Twitter or give reviews on the latest books they've read.

Thing 26

2009-02-28T12:44:00.001-08:00

I just joined the Ning the 2nd time around. The first time, I really didn't get past thing 1 or 2; this time I'm hoping I really make it through.

I really like reading the posts specific to school media specialists. What a great spot to go to for title suggestions and teaching ideas. I don't know that I'll actually set up a Ning page right now. I currently have 3 different blogs, and keeping up with them is difficult enough. One question I do have is how are media specialists getting people to read their blogs? I have one set up for our high school, and it's got some great information, but I don't think students are reading it. If they are, they very rarely are commenting on it. Does anyone out there have great success with blogs? I'd love any input you have to offer.

For Thing 26, I posted a video and commented on a couple of forums. I'll definitely check back for ideas.

I think a Ning could be useful for school libraries within a district to collaborate and share ideas. It could also be used to foster a community read project.

Thing 25

2009-02-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

I love all the widgets that are out there to use! I added a tag cloud to this site, but since I'm just starting, it's not too useful yet. I will be adding it to my school blog, and so it was great to have a testing ground before I put it on there. I also added Shelfari to my blog; I really like how it gives pop-up windows for the book. It's super easy to set up!

I set up an Otaku avatar too. I think students who are into manga would really like these, but they make me look a lot younger than I really am! It was also super easy to use.

Typealzer was fun to take a peak at too! It would be interesting to do a student project where students blog and then they evaluate their blog to see if it reflects who they feel they are. They could discuss and analyze why they were categorized they way they are!

Overall, Thing 25 had a ton of information that was useful. While I didn't use any of the speech text widgets, I could see them being useful for a variety of reasons depending on the situation. I'll definitely keep them bookmarked!

Thing 24

2009-02-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a bit disappointed. I've been playing around with third-party blogger templates, and I can't get them to work right. I keep getting different errors like BX-blice and others. I've tried solving the problem through different discussion boards, and it seems to be a common problem. I tried some of the offered solutions and nothing has worked. I'm a bit bummed. So my template is a bit plain, but it will have to do! I'm excited to start these things, and I hope I'm able to complete them all on time!